- Kevin Franke sues therapist Jodi Hildebrandt for negligence, seeking over $300,000.
- Hildebrandt and his ex-wife Ruby Franke were sentenced to prison for abusing the two youngest Franke children.
- Franke alleges Hildebrandt's manipulative practices caused isolation from his family and his job loss.
SALT LAKE CITY — Kevin Franke is not done with Jodi Hildebrandt — a mental health therapist who provided care for him, his former wife and multiple other family members — after she went to prison for physically abusing his two youngest children.
Instead, he filed a lawsuit asking Utah's 3rd District Court to order her to pay him based on economic and emotional damages he claims she caused him. The lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount of money, but does say it exceeds $300,000.
Franke claims she was negligent as his therapist and breached the duty of care she had to him while he was vulnerable by using improper mental health care techniques.
Hildebrandt and Franke's ex-wife, Ruby Franke, each pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony, and were sentenced to four consecutive terms of one to 15 years in prison.
Franke says in the lawsuit that he did not know his wife and younger children were living in Hildebrandt's home during the summer of 2023. The lawsuit said that while he was paying her for counseling services to help him reunite with his family, she was isolating them from him.
"The reuniting of the family was the very core, stated objective of the services she was providing, but in reality, she was abusing his children and taking drastic steps to distance his family further and further from Kevin and from each other," the lawsuit states.
The complaint said Hildebrandt was introduced to Kevin Franke through her personal and business association with Ruby Franke as they worked together on a Facebook group called "Moms of Truth." Ruby Franke was previously an influencer with over 2.3 million subscribers on her "8 Passengers" YouTube channel.
Kevin Franke said that before Hildebrandt's arrest on Aug. 30, 2023, she had advised both Ruby and Kevin Franke and sold them books and workbooks. He said that although she was licensed as a clinical mental health care worker, Hildebrandt often referred to herself as a psychologist and he believed in her exaggerated credentials.
In the lawsuit, he also said he believed Hildebrandt's diagnosis of him — without any specific testing — that he was "lustful, narcissistic, manipulative, deceptive, controlling and selfish." He said she also convinced his wife of this diagnosis.
Franke said he and his 17-year-old son cut contact from family members as treatment "mandated" by Hildebrandt, whom they paid hundreds of dollars a month to, to protect his marriage and family. He alleges she used his commitment to his religion, marriage and family to manipulate him. He said he was threatened by others, at the direction of Hildebrandt, that if he did not change quickly, his wife would divorce him.
According to the lawsuit, Hildebrant told Ruby Franke to hold on to letters he was instructed to write to her, including anything he did that was selfish, as evidence in any potential divorce proceedings.
At the encouragement of Hildebrandt, who convinced him he was not worthy, Franke said he did not renew his Latter-day Saint temple recommend, which led him to lose his job at BYU, where it was a requirement. The lawsuit said she advised him that losing his job may "wake (him) up," and that he was not worthy to work at BYU. When he did lose his job, he was scolded by Hildebrandt and told he was selfish, according to the lawsuit.
It said Hildebrandt was "extremely mentally abusive," and belittled Franke, accusing him of loving darkness and hiding evil, urging him to confess until she was satisfied. He said she shared confidential information with others in group sessions and invited them to abuse him — doing the same for others in the group.
On July 26, 2023, the lawsuit claims Hildebrandt announced she was suspending Franke's services, saying he needed solitude to heal, and she would follow up after six months of "absolute solitude," communicating only with God. She claimed violating this would cost him his marriage and family.
Franke is not the first to file a lawsuit against Hildebrandt's practices. Another man receiving treatment claimed earlier this year in a federal lawsuit seeking millions that she and Ruby Franke, along with their business Connexions Classroom, participated in electronic fraud and encouraged child abuse.
Each of the defendants in that case, including Hildebrandt, is seeking to dismiss it.
